Safety can opener



Jan. 6, 1925.

c. G; HANSEN SAFETY CAN OPENER Filed Feb. 23. 1924 Fatented Jan. 6, 1925,

szaess CARL G. HANSEN, 0F MANHATTAN, NEVADA.

SAFETY oAN OPENER.

Application filed February 23, 1924. Serial No. 694,711.

1 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL G. HANsEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Manhattan, county of Nye, State of Nevada, have invented a new and useful Safety Can Opener, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to can openers in general such as are used for the opening of canned goods by cutting out an end of the can.

The objects of my improvement are to provide in a simple, cheap can opener, a safety guard for the thumb of the manipulator and which will also contribute toward a better cutting action of the blade.

My invention is carried out as shown in the drawing accompanying this application and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of my novel can opener shown approximately full size;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the position of the device when opening the end of a can, and showing the fingers of an operators hand in place upon the device;

Figure 3 is a smaller perspective view illustrating the use of the opener in cutting along the side of a can; and Figure 4 is a similar view of the device cutting off the entire top of the can by operating through the side of the can.

Briefly stated, my improvements consist in providing a can opener with a pivoted guard plate close to the blade so that the thumb of the users hand will rest upon it, and the plate being pivoted will permit manipulation of the handle of the device without affecting the thumbs position.

In the drawing the figures show at (1) the blade of the can opener with its cutting edge at (2) and a can perforating point at 3 The blade is formed with an offset neck at and astraight handle or shank riveted between the sides (6) of a more substantial handle. The guard plate (7 lies along one side of the blade and has a right angle ear (8) pivoted at (9) to the forward end of the shank (5) adjacent the offset.

The guard plate (7) while here shown on one side only of the blade may of course be on either side or both sides if desired, and either close to the blade to cooperate with the blade as a shear, or slightly spaced from the blade.

The purpose of the offset (4) is to fulcrum the device against the edge (10) of the can (11) as shown in Figure 2 for shearing the tin from the inside outwardly by a. downward movement of the handle, while at the same time the operator urges the device forward in direction of the out.

While the device fulcrums primarily from the offset it also fulcrums from the pivot (9) which is adjacent the offset and which gets a certain amount of support from the plate (7).

The support of the pivot (9) in cutting becomes more evident when cutting along the side of the can as indicated in Figure 3, as there is then no can edge to sustain the offset part of the device.

In operation the thumb (12) is held against the guard plate (7) which prevents the tin from curling and fully protects the users from being seriously cut by the raw edge of the tin, and also holds the tin down thus greatly aiding the cutting action of the blade. The shape of the plate (7 being flat and functioning as described makes it a simple matter to out along the side of a can as illustrated in Figure 3, a feat almost impossible with an ordinary can opener of this type, and also to cut off the entire end of the can from just below the upper edge as shown in Figure L thus greatly facilitating the emptying out of canned meats and the like, as there is no overlapping edge left on the can to tear the contents in getting it out.

Having thus described my improved can opener, it will beseen to comprise .an extremely simple device providing the advantages enumerated.

I claim:

1. A can opener having a pointed blade with a single handle thereon only and a thumb guard plate pivoted to the side of the handle adjacent the blade and movable therewith to follow the thumb as the blade is rocked, said can opener being adapted for operation by one hand of a user upon the handle and the thumb guard plate being positioned to receive the thumb of said hand when gripping the handle in operative position.

2. A can opener comprising a pointed blade having an offset shank terminating in a handle, a thumb guard plate lying alongv side of the blade; atright angles: to

; the plane" of" tlie blade and pivotally-v secured to the shank of the blade adjacent the offset, said can opener being adapted for operation by one hand of a user upon the handle and the thumb guard plate being positioned to receive the thumb of said hand when gripping-the handle inoperative position, and lying. between the thumb and the can.

CARL G. HANSEN. 

